


Anduin Lothar's Day Off

by cirnelle



Category: Warcraft (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7315978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cirnelle/pseuds/cirnelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anduin has been running himself ragged. Khadgar intervenes.<br/>[Warning: Contains spoilers for the movie.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anduin Lothar's Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> Set post-movie and contains some spoilers.

 

 

Anduin Lothar was exhausted.

After Llane Wrynn’s funeral almost a year ago, he had been appointed Regent for Llane’s son, the young King Varian Wrynn. Between rebuilding Stormwind’s army, running a kingdom and trying to manage a tentative – and sometimes fractious – Alliance between humans, elves and dwarves that was still in its infancy, he’d had barely a moment to himself.

He was glad this week’s council meeting was over, at least. How he missed being out in battle with his men, rather than stuck in endless meetings discussing the intricacies of Stormwind’s crop and grain supplies. Necessary, of course, but so very dull. Incredibly, _unbelievably_ dull.

Walking briskly down the cool stone corridors of Stormwind Castle, he made his way back to his quarters, a few doors down from Llane’s old quarters, the official King’s chambers. It hadn’t felt right taking his old friend’s chambers, and in any case, he wasn’t the King (thank the Gods), he was merely helping out until Varian was old enough to take his place as Stormwind’s new King. And that moment, Anduin thought with a grimace, couldn’t come soon enough.

He pushed the heavy stone door to his quarters open and groaned at the sight of the huge pile of scrolls on his wide oak desk. He’d already put off reviewing the draft manifesto for the Alliance for a week. Briefly, Anduin considered putting it off again, but the pile of scrolls seemed to double in size every time he took his eyes off it. Regretfully, he strode over to the desk, sat down and picked up his quill and the first scroll. He stifled a yawn.

It felt like scant minutes later when the sound of a heavy door slamming startled him into wakefulness, his head jerking up off his desk. His quill drifted lazily off the desk at the motion, floating gently to the floor. Apparently he had been lying on it.

“I see you’re hard at work,” said Khadgar brightly, strolling into his room. He bent over and picked up the quill, putting it back on the desk. After helping to close the Dark Portal, the mage had stayed on in Stormwind Castle, helping to rebuild and dividing his free time between annoying Anduin and poring over books of old magic in Stormwind Castle’s extensive library. To be perfectly honest, Anduin actually rather enjoyed the young man’s company, but would not, under pain of death, ever admit it.

He rubbed the grit out of his eyes and glared at Khadgar. “Haven’t you heard of knocking?”

“I _did_ knock,” said Khadgar.

“Oh.” Anduin scowled.

Khadgar peered at him. “Did you know that there’s ink on your nose?”

Anduin rubbed at his nose irritably. “Did you really come in here to tell me _that_?”

“Actually,” said Khadgar, leaning forward to rub the rest of the ink off Anduin’s nose, “you missed dinner and Lady Taria was worried, so I told her I’d come by and check up on you.”

Anduin blinked, absently dislodging Khadgar’s hand. “Dinner? What time is it?” Rising from his chair, he went over to the windows and pulled the heavy curtains aside. It was dark outside, the lights of the town beneath the castle twinkling gently.

The mage eyed him narrowly. “Don’t you think you’ve been overworking yourself just a little?”

Anduin shrugged, and was saved from having to concede that the other man might have a point by the loud growling of his stomach.

“ _Honestly_ ,” Khadgar stared at him in exasperation, and really, a man who had to be _reminded to eat_ when he was in the library deeply absorbed in huge stacks of dusty tomes (Anduin had had to drag him out of the library when he looked on the verge of passing out on at least three separate occasions) should _not_ have the right to look so personally offended by Anduin missing _one_ meal.

Khadgar waved a hand, and a tray of delicious-smelling food floated into the room, settling gently on the desk at Anduin’s elbow. “Eat,” he ordered.

“Stop ordering me around, whelp,” replied Anduin without heat, tucking into the food hungrily.

Khadgar grinned at him cheekily. “Oh, and there was something Lady Taria wanted you to do, so be at the stables at noon tomorrow.”

“I’m training with my men tomorrow afternoon.”

“Don’t worry, Lady Taria said she would take care of it,” said Khadgar breezily, and swept out of the room.

 

***

 

Anduin arrived at the stables at noon the following day to find Khadgar waiting for him, a pack slung over his shoulders.

“So, what does my sister want of me?” he asked the mage.

“Well,” said Khadgar, taking a firm hold of Anduin’s arm, “I was speaking with Lady Taria the other day, and – ” he started muttering under his breath, and Anduin felt a tug, a moment of darkness –

– then suddenly he was standing in a small, dim clearing, mud, moss and small shrubs around his boots. Tall trees stretched densely out from the clearing for as far as he could see, reaching spindly wooden fingers up to the sky, thick grey-green crowns blocking out most of the sunlight. Clumps of vines hung down from the trees, blocking out even more of the sunlight. He could hear the soft murmur of a creek somewhere nearby.

“ – we thought you could use a small break,” finished Khadgar.

Anduin stared at him. “You’ve been conspiring with my sister?”

“Um,” hedged Khadgar, backing away as Anduin advanced on him threateningly. “I wouldn’t call it _conspiring_ , really...and Lady Taria can run things while you’re out here. It’s just for one afternoon!”

As Anduin took another step forward, his right boot splashed into a puddle and suddenly he was in mud up to his right knee. He winced at the wet, squishing sound as he hastily yanked his leg out.

The two men turned in a circle slowly, looking all around them.

“Where are we, exactly?”

“Hmm,” said Khadgar. “I was aiming for the southern edge of Elwynn Forest.”

Anduin sighed in deep exasperation. “I thought you were trained by the Kirin Tor.”

“I was!”

We are in a _swamp_ ,” Anduin pointed out, “which in _no way_ resembles Elwynn Forest. In fact, I have a strong suspicion that we are in the Swamp of Sorrows. Which means that we are most likely surrounded by unfriendly creatures.”

“Well, you enjoy hunting, don’t you?” said Khadgar hopefully.

“You – ” Anduin took a step toward the mage, but both men froze as a low, guttural growl emanated from the clump of bushes behind Khadgar.

A large, jet-black blur erupted from the bushes, resolving itself into the sleek shape of a shadow panther as it landed heavily on Anduin, its weight bearing him to the ground and rolling them over and over. Anduin struggled to reach his sword, but one of the panther’s paws was on his arm, pinning it down. With a shout, Khadgar cast a spell, blasting the panther off Anduin, who leapt to his feet, drawing his sword.

The shadow panther stalked back towards them, its teeth bared in a menacing snarl as Anduin edged in front of Khadgar, sword held out. The two men backed away as the panther advanced on them – then, as it crouched low, Khadgar stumbled backward as his foot hit the uneven dirt edge of the creek that Anduin had heard earlier. His flailing arm caught Anduin, knocking his sword out of his hand, and both men went down into the creek with a huge splash as the panther pounced and sailed right over them, landing on the other side of the creek. They surfaced, gasping for air, eyeing the panther warily as it turned around and crouched low again, growling.

Without warning, the panther turned around and ran into the bushes, disappearing within moments. Treading water, the two men shared a confused glance, then Khadgar’s eyes went wide as he abruptly shoved Anduin to the side. “Behind you!”

Anduin flailed as his head briefly went underwater, surfacing just in time to see a huge sawtooth crocolisk shoot straight up from the water and snap at Khadgar. Its front teeth scraped across Khadgar’s chest, tearing the mage’s robes as he yelped in pain. Anduin’s heart leapt into his throat. He shot a desperate glance at his sword, lying uselessly on the bank of the creek, then grabbed Khadgar’s shoulder and yanked him out of the way as the crocolisk lunged again.

“Get out of the water!” he yelled at Khadgar. Raising one arm out of the water, Khadgar gasped a quick spell, momentarily stunning the crocolisk as Anduin wrapped an arm firmly around his chest and towed him toward the bank of the creek.

Anduin scrambled up onto the muddy bank, pulling Khadgar after him. He shoved Khadgar aside as the crocolisk snapped at them, rolling over on the dirt to avoid its jaws. Snatching up his sword and jumping to his feet, he dodged the crocolisk again, then as its jaws shut, he plunged his sword into the back of its head, shoving the sword down with all his might. The crocolisk twitched once, then lay still.

Still breathing hard, he turned towards Khadgar. Stalking over to the younger man, he yanked the mage’s robes open, ignoring his protests, and carefully examined the scratches on Khadgar’s chest. The wounds were bleeding freely, but they were shallow and would heal fine if properly treated. He blew out a long breath.

“Don’t _ever_ ,” Anduin snapped, grabbing a fistful of Khadgar’s soggy robes and yanking the mage towards him, “do that again.”

Khadgar looked confused. “Do what?”

“Do _not_ get between me and something that’s trying to kill me _ever again_ ,” snarled Anduin, nose to nose with Khadgar. “I’ve already lost my best friend and my son, I _will not_ lose you as well.”

This didn’t seem to intimidate Khadgar in the least. Indeed, it seemed to have quite the opposite effect. He looked at Anduin’s face searchingly for a long moment. “And what am I to you?” he ventured quietly.

That brought Anduin up short. He’d been doing his level best to not think about his growing feelings for the young man with whom he had spent so much time the past year – in fact, keeping himself busy had been an extremely useful tactic for Not Thinking About His Feelings. He stared at Khadgar, opened his mouth then closed it again, grimacing as he felt his cheeks grow hot.

“You are my friend,” he said weakly.

There was something akin to hope in Khadgar’s eyes. “Is that all?” he asked boldly, inching a tiny bit closer to Anduin encouragingly.

Anduin looked down at Khadgar, whose lips were slightly parted, so close to his own, and heaved a small sigh of defeat. He tipped his head down, closing the small gap and pressing his lips to Khadgar’s.

Khadgar’s lips were softer than he’d expected. The mage moaned and wriggled closer, wrapping his arms tightly around Anduin. The older man froze as Khadgar’s soft moans turned into a grunt of pain, and he pulled away quickly, eyeing Khadgar’s bloodied robes in concern and cursing himself for having forgotten all about the mage's injuries.

“Sorry,” said Khadgar sheepishly.

“Can you heal them?” Anduin asked, gesturing at the slashes on Khadgar’s chest.

“I’ll need a bit of rest first,” admitted Khadgar.

Anduin nodded. “Let me see to those wounds, then.” He marched off, all business. Khadgar trailed after him, looking a little put out at the interruption of their earlier activities.

 

***

 

“I don’t think I’m up to bringing us both back to Stormwind Castle right now, but I should send you back at least,” said Khadgar. Anduin had efficiently cleaned and bandaged his wounds with the supplies he had brought in his pack, and Khadgar was presently turning skewers of crocolisk meat over the fire Anduin had built, making sure they cooked evenly, and darting occasional glances over at his companion. “I told Lady Taria that we would be back by sundown.”

Anduin sat on a log on the other side of the fire, cleaning a large strip of crocolisk skin. He eyed Khadgar knowingly. “But do you really want to send me back?”

Khadgar blushed.

“Taria will manage for one night,” Anduin said. “She’d be running the whole of Stormwind herself, were she not so busy tutoring young Varian to do it. And in any case, I’m not leaving you out here alone. You’d probably get yourself eaten by a crocolisk.”

“I would not,” said Khadgar indignantly. He handed Anduin a skewer of meat, and took another off the fire for himself.

“Perhaps not,” conceded Anduin, taking the skewer and tearing into the meat hungrily. He turned to look directly at Khadgar. “You know I’m only teasing you. I’ve seen you fight, and you’re one of the most skilled mages I know. Doesn’t stop me from wanting to protect you anyway.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” said Khadgar, flushing in pleasure.

Finishing the meat, Anduin tossed the skewer on the ground and went over to Khadgar’s pack, fishing out a thick blanket and laying it out on the ground. “Come and join me when you’re done,” he told Khadgar, settling down on one side of the blanket, arms tucked behind his head.

Khadgar finished his food with alacrity and came over to join him, tucking himself into Anduin’s side like he had always belonged there. They lay side by side quietly, looking up at the stars twinkling gently in the sky.

“Are you sure about this, Khadgar?” Anduin asked quietly. “I am rather older than you, you know.”

“I don’t think you’re _that_ old,” Khadgar said cheerfully. “And I’ve only been trying to catch your interest for the better part of a year, so yes, I’m sure.”

“Whelp,” grumbled Anduin. He turned on his side to face Khadgar with a smirk. “Well, in that case...it may have been some time since I’ve lain with another man, but I still know a trick or two.”

He took Khadgar in his arms and kissed him long and slow, careful with the bandages across the mage’s chest as they shed pieces of clothing and armor until they were both bare, hips rocking against each other’s. There were no more words that night as they made love under the clear night sky, and Anduin made sure that Khadgar knew he was grateful for the twin gifts that he had given him – both the gift of the time away to rest and recharge, and the gift of Khadgar himself.

 

***

 

They woke bright and early and packed up the few supplies they had brought. Anduin rolled up the cleaned and washed crocolisk skin and stuck it in Khadgar’s pack.

Khadgar began to cast the spell that would bring them both back to Stormwind.

“Are you sure you’re up to casting yet?” Anduin asked him.

Khadgar beamed at him, bright and soft, and held out his hand. “Trust me.”

Anduin took his hand unhesitatingly. “Of course.”

 

 

 

\- End -

 


End file.
